Building construction and block therefor.



W. H. RIGKER. i BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND BLOCK THBREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 9, 1909.

190161,95?, Patented Feb.13, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

. RICKER.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND BLOCK THBREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 9

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' WILLIAM vOIE' CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSIE.'.I'.".I.S.-

To all whom concern." Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. RICKER,

. a citizen of the'l'United States of America,

and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of MiddlesexandState of Massachusetts,

have invented certain new and useful Im-A provements in Buildin A Blocks Therefor, of whlch the following,y is` a specification.

This invention relates tok building construction and particularly to a novel design of vbuilding block to be lused in such constructin,.-the particular object of the invention being to provide a building block l -having an air passage extending there- V through adapted to communicate with s'imi- '.lar air passages in other blocks superinb.`

.- posed'thereon, these various air passages bestructure.

ing separated 'from each' otherl by partitions formed lintegrally with said blocks, but of less height than the heights of the exterior walls of' the blocks thereby permitting a circulation of the air from o ne air passage to another. i

\ Another object oftheinvention is to provide a block with aqpl'urality ofTshaped vgrooves in the outer faces thereof, the cor- `ners of said'T-shaped grooves preferably being rounded. These T-shaped grooves are adapted -to serve as a retaining means for plaster, concrete or anyother similar material spread over the outer face of said building blocks when superimposed upon one another to form the exterior'or interior wall of a building, or the wall of any other Another object of the 'invention is to proivide similar T-shaped grooves at the ends of saidbuilding blocks which grooves will communicate w1th the sides thereof -and are adapted to'receive cement orany other similar material which is'adapted to be inserted vtherein while in a plasticl state, and which when hardened or set willservezas a means for locking the ends of two adjacent blocks together. v l p A further object of the invention is to provide one face of the building block with a plurality of semi-cylindrical depressions having inwardly extending beads, vor ribs near the outer edges thereof, said -depressions being adapted to receive cement orother similar plastic material inserted therein while the depressions of two of such Specication-of Letters Patent.

v 'Application led December 9, 1909. Serial No.

Construction and- BAT/TIILDING 'CONSTRUCTION AND BLOCK THREFOR Patented Feb. 13,1912.

blocks are 'positioned opposite one another,-said cement when hardened or set being adapted to lock the two blocks together by means of the shoulders formed by said-inwardly extending beads or ribs.

In carrying out these objectsl theinvention consists of certain novel vfeatures in building construction and in-and to a building block containing certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts whichwill be readily understood by refer- Fien.

ence to the description of the drawings and tothe claim hereinafter given. i

Of the drawingsV Figure 1` represents a4 horizontal sect-ion of -a portion of an exterior wall showing two building blocks face to face andv locked together by means of cement, and portions of four other building blocks similarly locked to the ends of the rst mentioned pair. of blocks, the cutting plane of said section being on line 1-1 on Fig. 2. Fig. 2 represents ,an elevation ofA said wall showing a port-ion of the plasterl ing or cement covering thereof broken away to show grooves in said building bl0cks,-and vanother portion broken away to show the connecting passage bet-Weenl the main vertical air passages of-said blocks. Fig. 3 reprethe plaster orcement retaining f sents a modified 4form of block which is i adapted for` use in the construction .of vinterior walls, the cutting plane being on line 3 3 on Fig. 4:.y Fig. 4 represents an elevation of said inner wall showing a portion of the plastering or other covering broken away to show the plaster retaining grooves von the outer face of said blocks, while another fportion of said covering is broken laway to showthe' connecting passage between the vertical vair passages Yof said blocks, and Fig.v '5 represents a' horizontal section ofa plu ality of modilied forms of block. Near each outer ed'geof said semitop to bottom of said block. The partitions y 11 are of less height than the 'height of the walls and 12, thus leaving at the top and passages when the blocks are superimposedy bottom of said block a semi-cylindrical connecting passage 16-which provides a communication between the various vertical air on one another.

By means of the vertical air passages 15 and the connecting passages 16 a free circulation of air is permitted between the walls 10 and 12. The outer face of the outer wall` 10 is provided with a plurality of vertical T-shaped grooves 17, the corners of which are preferably rounded,-these grooves being adapted to serve as a retaining means for concrete, cement, plaster or other suitable plastic material which may be applied to the exterior face of said wall 10. Similar T-shaped grooves 18 are formed in the `ends of each block, these grooves 18 also com-y municating with the outer face of the wall 10. 4By this construction the cement applied in the plastic state to the exterior faces of the walls 10 will enter the grooves 18 and not only form a means for retaining the cement or other material applied to the outer face in position, but will also serve as a means for uniting the ends of the blocks together when the cement is hardened or set.

Usually in the construction of an'exterior wall of a building or other structure in which this improved block is used, the faces 19 are butted against one another as shown in Fig. Lof the drawings, thus forming a cylindrical space through which a tie rod 2O of an suitable construction is positioned, this tie rod extending through a plurality of building blocks in a well known manner.

The end faces of the blocks arefalso pro vided with vertical grooves 21 having suitable beads orribs 22 extending in front of said grooves parallel with the ends of said block, and other similar beads or grooves 23 extending at right angles thereto, but not extending to the end face of said block.

When the blocks have been positioned as indicated iny Fig. 1 of 'the drawings in the construction of a wall, and the tie rods 20 have been positionedin the center of the cylindrical spaces formed/ by the semicylindrical depressions 13, cement or other suitable plastic binding material is inserted in said depressions 13 and by means of the inwardly extending beads 14 the twol blocks facing one another are firmly united together when the cement is hardened and become set. The cement in said depressions 13 will also pass into the( grooves 21 and by means of the beads 23 will more firmly unite cement has been .inserted into the semi-cy-l lindrical depressions 13 it will pass from one depression to another land ill the space between the faces 19 and when hardened or set it will form a tie between theV cement in all of the depressions 13, while it will also provide a means for retaining the blocks separated to form a wall of any desired thick-.I

ness.

Building blocks have heretofore been formed with dove-tailed grooves in the outer faces thereof serving as a retaining means for plaster, cement, or other plastic material applied to the exterior face thereof, but in practice. suchv dove-tailed grooves have been found more or less objectionable owing to the shoulders thereof being insuflicient to secure a lirm grip upon the material when hardened or set,-but the -principal objection found thereto is'on account of the drawings, in which case the material is less liable to become cracked and separated from the wall to which it is'applied.

l/Vhere an inner wall is tobe constructed, as for instance, in making partitions between the various rooms of a building a similar but modified form of said block Y such as is shown in Fig. 3 may be utilized,

the' ends of the block being provided with the grooves 18 for locking the 'ends together when the-plaster or other plastic material has been applied to the exterior faces of said blocks and secured thereto by means of the grooves 17. rlhe air spaces 15 therein are similar to those shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings and communicate with one another bymeans of the communicating passages 16 formed in the top and bottom of the partitions 1'1. Where a thicker vinner partition or wall is desired, the plaster 24 may be omitted and two parallel rows of said blocks positioned separated from each other and the space between them filled with cement in lieu of plaster 24 whichwhen set will unite the two rows securely together, tie rods 2,0 being embedded in said cement if desired. In a .similar manner modifications of said relaas? blocks may be utilized inthe manner shownbetween the inner Vwalls of the blocks thus positioned about said tie rod being filled with cement which will enter the lshaped grooves 17 in the inner faces of said blocks and when set will unite them all together.

It is obvious that columns of any desired r cross section maybe similarly constructed by making the blocks forming the columns of a suitable shape. The outer faces of the blocks will then have applied thereto cement or other plastic material which will still further unitethe blocks toget-her and make a rigid column suitable for all ordinary building purposes. llt is obviousthat the building block may also -be .utilized for many similar urposes such as the construction of posts, "ences, floors, paving, et cetera.

lhe blocks themselves may be formed of cement, concrete or any similar material, but preferably are made of vitriied terra cotta and salt glazed,-it having been found in practice that blocks of salt glazed vitrified terra cotta are the best non-conductors of the elements.

ln the blocks ordinarily used some di- I culty has been found in preventing the dampness from the -exterior of the wall from passing through .the block to the interior thereof making damp interiors and causing objectionable stainsupon the interior faces.

`Byl means of the vertical air passages and the horizontal passages communicating therewith, a free circulation of air through the'wall is permitted which'very materially decreases the tendency of the dampness to y 40 pass through the walls even if it is not entirely prevented. rlhis forms an important feature of the present invention as obviously the dampness passing throughthe walls will cause the building materiall to deteriorate if some means is not provided to prevent the same.

rods or other stiening members are utilized in the walls, the moisture from the ele-l ments oxidizing the `metal used unless it t is. efectually incased which is done in thel present construction shown in the drawings f This is more true where steel tie and forming a part of this invention.

It is obvious that in theexterior walls as y Vbe fully scription.

'constructed in laccordance with the present is the greatest lprotection which could be provided to prevent the dampness from be- -ing transmitted from the exterior to the interiorlof the wall.' These air sections not only are adapted to cut 0H the dampness but they also insulate from the cold or heat, the dry air passing through the passages assisting materially in preventing either the cold or the heat fromthe exterior face of the wall being transmitted to the inside of the building. t

lt is obvious that the blocks as constructed may be readily set up without the use of skilled labor and will not only be cheaper than the bricks ordinarily used in the -construction of a wall, fbut the wall constructed therefrom will be far superior to those constructed of brick for obvious reasons. v

The operation of the invention and the many advantages thereof it is believed will evident without any further del-lIaving thus described by invention, l

claim: .f

A building block having a hollow body portion provided on one face with a plurality of semi-cylindrical depressions having,

inwardly extending beads and. adapted to receive columns vof cement to -which said block is adaptedl to be locked by said beads extending into said cement columns, the ends of said block-being provided with particylindrical depressions and smaller shouldered depressions near said'parti-cylindrical\ depressions, the walls of said smaller shouldered depressions near said parti-cylindrical depressions beinggof less depth,where by when two blocks are brought together, a channel is formed providing a means for the introduction of the cement into the smaller shouldered depressions, thereby soA lockingthe blocks together and to said'cement columns Signe-d byl me at 4 Post Oce Square, Bos=i ton,Mass., this 4th day of December^1909. f

WlLL H. RlCKER.

Witnesses: -1

WALTER l-l. LOMBARD, NATHAN C. LOMBARD. 

